The Role of Data in Business

When is the last time that you reviewed the status of clients for your business? More specifically, how many of you could answer the following questions about your clients: How many clients does your business have? How many of these clients are active? What is the value of each of these clients to the business? or Which clients have dropped by the wayside? If you can’t answer these questions, then it may be time to consider the reporting systems with your business.

There is certainly not a lack of data available. However, the quality of that data still leaves much to be desired, data is one of the most valuable assets a business can have and potentially has a tremendous impact on its long-term success. That’s why it’s vital to utilize the right tools and technologies to fully leverage all available data and make it as accurate as possible. Data is essentially the plain facts and statistics collected during the operations of a business. They can be used to measure/record a wide range of business activities – both internal and external. While the data itself may not be very informative, it is the basis for all reporting and as such is crucial in business.

The modern business marketplace is a data-driven environment. The role of data is to empower business leaders to make decisions based on facts, trends, and statistical numbers. But with so much information out there, business leaders must be able to sift through the noise, and get the right information, so that they can make the best decisions about strategy and growth.

A company needs to develop strategies for marketing, sales, human resources, and operations. Getting the right information means knowing what information is important to the company’s decision-making process. The strategy starts with basic demographic data; then, it considers pricing based on the education and income of buyers, and how that group speaks. Education and income are important, because the more educated and the higher the income a target group has, the more likely it is that the business can logically sell a higher-end product to the group who can understand, appreciate and afford the product.

For example, a company wants to market a new skincare line to women. There are several key factors the company must know to effectively design and execute a marketing strategy. Although the product might work for all women, will it be branded more for the younger teen crowd? Or, will it be branded for the aging woman who’s trying to hold on to her youthful skin? The label design might be different for each group. A higher price point might not be affordable to a younger crowd, but research backing the claims might be required to sell a product with a higher price point to educated, professional older women.

Every business decision has an element of risk involved; thus, the function of data which helps business leaders evaluate scenarios and make better moves to build the company’s size and to increase revenues.